British Buses of the 1980s

The 1980s were some of the most tumultuous years for the British bus industry. The Thatcher Government, in power throughout the decade, brought about privatisation of the National Bus Company and the Scottish Bus Group. In addition, 1986 saw the introduction of full deregulation of bus services with the exception of London. Do not think that London was unaffected by these changes, however, as the omnibus operations of London Transport was split up and then sold into private hands.

Deregulation meant competition and ‘bus wars’ broke out in many parts of the country, sometimes in the most unexpected of places. However, towards the end of the decade, larger groups emerged such as Stagecoach. The author was fortunate enough to be able to capture the scene on colour film through the decade and the best of his results are seen in British Buses of the 1980s, a magnificent record of some challenging and ultimately pivotal times.